Chapter 54 The End of the Journey South: The beginning and the end of this journey.
Li Changling leaned close to his ear and heard only two indistinct words: the capital.
Qu Zhen tugged at Ling Qieting's sleeve and poked her head out, "Why isn't he completely dead yet...?"
Wang Yan and Shen Minghuai exchanged a knowing glance, both thinking of that person from the palace. Even if Prince Yi killed her, what would that change? She truly couldn't understand why he would want to kill her so badly.
Ye Can asked in surprise, "People from the capital? It seems more reasonable for them to come and kill him, doesn't it?"
Qu Zhen whispered to Ye Can, guessing, "They might be enemies. After all, in a place like the capital, there's no shortage of open and covert struggles."
Using the surveying skills Shen Minghuai had learned from the White Tiger Gang over the past few days, they found a village ten miles from the tomb of Princess Changping. After asking the villagers for half a day without any results, they decided to leave. Li Changling, however, confidently asserted that there must be clues in this place.
After two hours without rest, complaints were already rampant within the Righteous Alliance. Atop the opposite lake stood a green earthen slope. Although Shen Minghuai suspected it was a tomb, due to their previous two misjudgments, the others no longer trusted his poor tomb-hunting abilities. Reluctantly, the group followed Li Changling around the farmland and indeed discovered a spirit tablet. The tomb's occupant was none other than Lianhua Zhi.
Shen Minghuai went up the slope to explore and found a large hole. The entrance and surrounding area were overgrown with weeds. He threw down a pebble to get a general idea of the hole's depth. Li Changling went into the hole first, followed closely by the others.
Qu Zhen insisted on staying where she was, saying, "Jingxin is definitely not inside, why should we go down?"
“This is the only clue we have right now. If there were other ways to find him, why would your senior brother insist on cooperating with us?” Wang Yan was about to leave when Ling Qieting grabbed his wrist.
"The situation below is unknown. Since you are injured, you and your junior sister should stay here. Let's go."
Wang Yan shook off Ling Qieting's hand, and Shen Minghuai caught him steadily. In the blink of an eye, the members of the Righteous Alliance landed one after another. The underground palace was not small and had no traps. They quickly found the place where the coffin was placed. There were no gold or jade artifacts. The coffin was intact, but the nanmu box next to it had been moved. There were only some scattered books inside.
Shen Minghuai brought the tinderbox closer. Compared to the side near the tomb door, there wasn't much ash on the books on this side, indicating that someone had been here recently. There were three boxes of books that had been turned over, including Sanskrit and Vietnamese books. The titles of the books had been dusted off, and one of them showed obvious signs of its pages being turned.
Wang Yan saw Shen Minghuai take out one old book after another, holding a tinderbox and approaching Ye Can from behind, just as the person in front turned around.
"ah!"
“Jingxin has already looked through those boxes of books. Take some back with you; maybe we can figure something out.” Wang Yan stared at Shen Minghuai’s stack of books for a while, then casually picked out two. Qu Zhen snatched them away as soon as he got them.
"I'll take a look."
Just as Wang Yan was about to snatch it back, Li Changling shoved two dusty books into her hands and tossed two others to Qu Zhen.
"Then let's do more research."
They rode back to Zhanyun Tea House, and it was already night. Hua Xin and Ying Ming had already invited the Sanskrit master from Wulei Temple, who was proficient in Sanskrit, to come. They were just waiting for the master to bring back the scriptures so they could begin translating them into Yue. Wang Yan was about to call the waiter to refill the tea when he saw Li Changling, who had just returned from the restroom, standing by the railing, lost in thought.
What are you looking at?
Li Changling then looked away. "It's nothing. How's the translation going?"
"It's almost halfway done—I was just about to call someone to refill the teapot." Wang Yan was about to take the teapot from Manager Xu, but he missed.
"May I take a look?"
Wang Yan scanned his surroundings but found no one suspicious.
Shopkeeper Xu hurriedly replied, "I'm only curious about poetry collections and the like; I won't inquire about anything else!"
Wang Yan turned around and led her to the door, reminding her, "Being too curious isn't a good thing."
“If my grandmother hadn’t been curious back then, she wouldn’t have had this storybook. Now that the legend has become a story, how can I not be curious?”
After entering the room, Manager Xu did not glance at the scholar at all. He picked up the collection that Shen Minghuai was holding, flipped through it, put it down, and then went to get another book. Suddenly, he pointed to the two characters "栴檀" in the sentence and became very excited.
"That's right! That's right!"
Li Changling, who was watching the translation from the other side, was also drawn in. "What did you find?"
"Zhantan is the princess's maiden name! This teahouse was opened with the princess's help back then. Yun is my great-grandmother's name, hence the name 'Zhanyun'. Half of Lotus Wisdom's ten poems mention 'Zhantan', and he did so not unintentionally!"
“Sandalwood is not uncommon in Zen poetry, is it?” Wang Yan had already moved on from the lingering echoes of the story and felt that this statement was rather far-fetched.
“That’s right.” Shen Minghuai agreed with her, but then changed the subject, “Just this one poem—‘Farewell to Yue’—shows a clue.”
Then, Shen Minghuai pointed to a line in the poem with his slender finger: "The sandalwood fragrance lingers, the willow in front of the door is broken."
"This sentence has no metrical rules. It seems to have been written without careful consideration, as if it were written in a hurry."
Wang Yan pondered, "Since they are Indians, why be so strict about rules? Not being bound by them shows a free and easy spirit."
After reading through the three poetry collections he brought back, Shen Minghuai made an irresponsible speculation: "He may not be considered a carefree person. Although this is not the line of poetry that is not bound by rules, the emotions are completely different."
Manager Xu asked urgently, "What's different?"
“Identity.” Shen Minghuai found another farewell poem and placed it in front of Manager Xu. “The author of this poem was obviously a monk, but this one was written by an ordinary man.”
Wang Yan then leaned closer to carefully read the two poems. Just as Shen Minghuai had said, the authors' states of mind when writing the poems were clearly different. Lianhua Zhi began writing poetry and prose after his first arrival in Yue as an envoy, and the words "sandalwood" appeared at that time. The three volumes of poetry selected by Shen Minghuai were written during his three visits to Yue. However, the frequency of the words "sandalwood" did not change significantly across the three volumes.
"May I make a copy of this poem and take it with me?"
Wang Yan watched as Shopkeeper Xu took every stroke and line with utmost care, and he could no longer tell whether the person who was so persistent was Changping, who died with regrets, or the Xu family who were keeping up with this storybook.
After Manager Xu left, the translator's work was nearing completion. The completed translation was a detailed introduction to the kapala bowl, also known as the topa. As a Buddhist ritual implement, the kapala bowl can bring enlightenment, purification, and the subjugation of demons, and can also help one attain sainthood and Buddhahood. This implement is often made from the skull of an enlightened monk, and must be obtained according to his last wishes; it cannot be forcibly taken.
Wang Yan suddenly remembered Pu Yuan's words, "It seems that Jingxin must have gone to find the skull of the deceased high monk. But Padmasambhava's coffin has not been moved. Could it be that his relics are stored inside?"
The translation of the last page of scripture was completed, and the ink was still wet, so Shen Minghuai handled it with extra care. The three people who saw the contents showed expressions of astonishment one after another, and couldn't help but ask the scripture master for confirmation again.
"Amitabha. This humble monk is only responsible for translation and does not verify the authenticity of the original text. Farewell."
Seeing the master about to leave, Li Changling quickly said, "Master, please wait."
“This humble monk has never been here before, has never met you all, nor has he translated this book.”
The master turned around, as if to admonish, "Everything has its cause and effect; one must not be overly demanding."
After the others left, Wang Yan revealed a hint of dissatisfaction, "We've already come all this way, how can we not continue the investigation? Besides, perhaps you and I have already been drawn into this cause and effect."
Shen Minghuai put down the translation and comforted them, "They meant well after all. It's just that they went around in circles and didn't know that the person we were looking for was actually in the capital."
Li Changling found it extremely boring. "Yes, after going around in circles, Jingxin has gone back to square one. If he really entered the palace, how could there not be a single word? He has truly vanished without a trace."
The beginning of this journey is also the end... The more Wang Yan thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. He always felt that there was an invisible hand manipulating everything behind the scenes. Just as they had guessed before they left, the moment Li Changling entered the capital, they were already caught in the middle of the game.
The dark clouds outside completely blocked out the moonlight.
"Is the 'Still Water Heart Sutra' a method for achieving immortality?"
Seeing Shen Minghuai's face suddenly darken, Wang Yan was somewhat at a loss and could only nod slowly.
“If Jingxin goes to find him, how could he not know that his father is innocent? It is the Shen family that is guilty.”
Emperor Yue was inherently suspicious, so if this was the truth, it was to be expected. But what puzzled Li Changling was, what did this matter have to do with the Wang family, and what did it have to do with him?
Shen Minghuai immediately fell silent. He also didn't know why this game of chess had involved so many innocent people.
"Isn't that right—"
Wang Yan quickly covered his mouth, only realizing how close they were when she came to her senses. Shen Minghuai's momentary stunned expression was reflected in her eyes, like a wolf that had been growling just moments before suddenly retracting its claws and turning into a bewildered puppy.
Wang Yan awkwardly withdrew his hand and straightened his posture. "The answer lies in the capital. We'll find out when we get back."
Li Changling sighed, tossed her high ponytail, and walked to the door. "What time is it? It's time to go back!"
Wang Yan led his horse out of the thatched hut and looked up. The dark clouds had dispersed at some point, and the moon was as bright as a jade plate.
"It's past midnight, today is the Mid-Autumn Festival."
Yes, Mid-Autumn Festival is here again so soon. The smile before him made him look forward to the new day. Shen Minghuai looked up, only to see a large patch of dark clouds gathering, so he turned back. It turned out that his moon had already set, not that far away, right behind him.
Shen Minghuai got up very early, and only after hearing Li Changling come out of his room did he hurriedly knock on Wang Yan's door. He knocked twice, but no one answered. He knocked again, still no response.
Li Changling stretched out his arms and walked over. "Returning to the capital today, I'm bound to throw a tantrum. I'll go, Madam Wang—Wang Wenxuan—Wang Yan—Aying—"
Still no response. Normally, she would have stormed out and berated him. Li Changling sensed something was wrong and knocked twice more. "Did I come in?"
Shen Minghuai hurriedly pushed the door open, but the room was empty, and there were no signs of a struggle. Li Changling quickly grabbed a waiter, who said that the lady in this room had come to borrow the kitchen last night, saying she wanted to make a bowl of noodles this morning, and he was wondering why she hadn't been seen.
Subsequently, Shen Minghuai found scattered incense ash in Wang Yan's clothes. He then found the incense burner in the room, poured all the incense ash onto the table, and hid a rolled-up piece of paper inside.
"Aying just jumped into the river."
Li Changling snatched it away, his body trembling uncontrollably, and gritted his teeth, saying, "This is Jiang Wan's calligraphy."
Shen Minghuai's pupils constricted sharply as Jiang Wan's words from that night echoed in his ears. "Half a sound!"
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Author's Note: My trip south is over! Time to head back to Beijing. [Shut up]
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